New defence secretary wins another £1.5bn to boost drone spending

Dan Jarvis persuaded Rachel Reeves to reduce 18bn funding gap that led to predecessor resigning

The new defence secretary has secured an extra 1.5bn to the UK's long-delayed defence investment plan, with the bulk of that to be spent on drones to deter Russia and Iran.

Rows about closing an 18bn funding gap had led to the resignation of John Healey and raised questions about Britain's commitments to Nato - though on Monday the head of the alliance told the Guardian he believed the UK would honour its commitments.